falconeyereviewsfandomcom-20200215-history
Falconeye Review 11: Metroid
Sonic the Hedgehog was too slow. I was going to do Sonic next, but I found reviewing the game boring, so here's my review of Metroid for the NES. Now before I give my first review of the first game in a classic series, I'm gonna give a little backstory. You know, I feel a little odd apologizing when I don't get to game reviews when I say I'm going to because, at the moment, I'm pretty sure nobody reads my reviews. Backstory With the success of Legend of Zelda, Nintendo wanted to make another Action/Adventure game that would appeal to a somewhat different audience. Instead of going the fantasy route, they decided to go kind of a Star Trek kind of theme. And what we got was Metroid. So, is it as good as Legend of Zelda? Let's find out. Plot The Space Pirates, headed by a dragon like creature known as Ridley, attack a federation ship and steal some of the organic lifeforms being researched. Unable to penetrate the pirate's fortress, they hire the bounty hunter Samus Aran to infiltrate Planet Zebes and destroy Mother Brain, the intelligence of the Pirate's defensive system. However, unless you have the manual, all your going to get as far as the story goes is "Travel to Zebes and kill Mother Brain." Pretty bleak, huh? Along the way, she'll have to defeat Kraid, an ally of the Pirates, and their leader, Ridley. Gameplay Metroid is a completely non-linear game. You're not told where to go, you're completely on your own. you shoot in three directions, move, and... I guess Samus is some sort of contortionist because she has this "Morph Ball" which allows her to contort into a ball and travel in small places. Oh, and you have to obtain a lot of your abilities, which are explained below. Samus' Abilities Through the game, you'll come across many upgrades to your suit. Morph Ball: I already explained this Long Beam: This allows Samus' bullets to travel across the whole screen Bombs: Bombs that you drop in Morph Ball mode Wave Beam: Allows your bullets to travel through walls Ice Beam: Allows your bullets to temporarily freeze enemies Missles: More powerful than regular shots High Jump Boots: Allows you to jump higher Screw Attack: A powerful attack that activates when you jump. Anyway, that's about it in terms of powerups in this game. Gameplay Cont. Anyway, your main goal in this game is to gain access to Torian so you can kill Mother Brain. In order to do this, you'll have to travel to Kraid's lair and Ridley's lair, Defeat Kraid and Ridley, then you get access to Torian. There's also two othere areas, name not important and Norfair, which is the only one I can remember because it's one of my favorite stages in SSBB. Anyway, in Torian there's only two enemies, these flying disc things and... METROIDS!!!!! These things have to be the most evil things in the game. Before you go to Torian, make sure you have the Ice Beam because the Wave beam isn't going to help you much. If a metroid latches onto you, get into morph ball mode and drop a bunch of bombs. Once you defeat Mother Brain, you have to get up an elevator shaft before the whole place explodes. It is then that we're told that the other metroid could invade space (wait, Metroid: Other M? Does the M stand for Metroid...?). Samus then starts flashing many colors and then the power suit dissapears and it is revealed that Samus is actually a girl. This was a pretty big deal back then, as this was one of the first major video games to feature a girl as the main character. Most people say she's the best female character in existence, but if you ask me, she beats most males too,,, except maybe Sonic, but... hey, not everyone is capable of rolling around at the speed of sound. At least, not till Fusion. Good Aspects Metroid is probably one of the best titles in the Metroid Series. The controls are good, the graphics are good for the 8-bit era. Bad Aspects Alright, in case you haven't noticed, I do like this game, but there are some things I need to cover. At the begining of the game, Samus' shots don't even travel across the whole screen, which is pathetic. I also don't like that you can't carry more than one beam at a time. This game can also be very difficult. I mean, it's not too hard, I mean, Echoes is still the most punishing, but, I think it can be a little too hard at times. Conclusion Anyway, I would give you a Family Friendliness category... but... it's an 8-bit game, so I don't think it really matters. With good music, fun gameplay, but punishing difficulty, I'll give it a 7/10 with the title of GOOD. Next Up? Next I will be drifting away from the Metroid games and into the classic Sonic titles with the original Sonic the Hedgehog. And, this time, I will be doing it.